Marlon Wayans Says NBC Passed On 'The Wayans Bros.' Because They Thought John Witherspoon Was 'Too Ghetto'
Marlon Wayans revealed that 'The Wayans Bros.' show was passed on by a network due to their belief that John Witherspoon was "too ghetto."
Wayans appeared on 'Club Shay Shay' where he revealed that NBC declined the show — starring Marlon, his brother Shawn Wayans, Anna Maria Horsford, and John Witherspoon — due to their perception of Witherspoon in an interview posted Wednesday.
The series, according to the 'White Chicks' actor, was first brought to NBC before it made its way to The WB. He said the network "didn't want John Witherspoon... they thought that he was too ghetto. They thought that John was too country, that he was too Detroit... they didn't want him as our father."
Wayans and his brother, Shawn, 53, believed that the casting of Witherspoon was non-negotiable.
"Me and Shawn was like, 'We don't want no other father,' and they was like, 'Either you replace the father or you don't get on our air,' and we said, 'We not replacing the father.' And so NBC didn't pick us up," he explained.
After NBC turned the show down, the brothers went to WB — a brand new network founded in 1995. The brothers made their requirements clear to the network. "They was like, 'We'll take it'... we said, 'You gotta take John Witherspoon,' they was like, 'Bet.' And from there, 'The Wayans Brothers.' "
'The Wayans Bros.' became the first show ever to air on the WB Television Network. The show ran from 1995-1999 for five seasons.
